If you say that someone is behaving like a fishwife, you mean that they are shouting a great deal and behaving in a very unpleasant and bad-tempered way.
[mainly British, disapproval]
fishwife in British English
(ˈfɪʃˌwaɪf)
nounWord forms: plural-wives
1.
a woman who sells fish
2. derogatory
a coarse scolding woman
Derived forms
fishwifely (ˈfishˌwifely)
adjective
fishwife in American English
(ˈfɪʃˌwaɪf)
nounWord forms: pluralˈfishˌwives (ˈfɪʃˌwaɪvz)
1.
a woman who sells fish
2.
a coarse, scolding woman
Examples of 'fishwife' in a sentence
fishwife
Even Uli the au pair was standing watch, her arms folded across her chest like a junior fishwife.
Tony Parsons MAN AND WIFE (2002)
He could return a blow as fast as any bully, a word as loudly as any fishwife in Westminster.
Heller, Keith MAN'S LOVING FAMILY (2002)
She always had some little performance to entertain him: Rosa the schoolgirl, Rosa the fishwife, Rosa the poetess.